Zirconium(IV) chloride-mediated chemoselective conjugate addition of aliphatic amines to alpha,beta-ethylenic compounds

Zirconium chloride efficiently catalyzes the conjugate addition of a variety of aliphatic amines to alpha,ss-unsaturated ester, nitriles, and ketones to give the corresponding ss-amino derivatives in excellent yields under mild reaction conditions. Aromatic amines do not participate in this transformation.